Ritual baths proposed at Sugar Camp, land cleared at Beth Jacob

Plans are underway for two new mikveh buildings in the Miami Valley: one in Harrison Township, the other in Oakwood.

At the Oakwood Planning Commission’s public hearing on Dec. 13, the owners of Sugar Camp, Oakwood Investment Group, presented their site plan for the property, including a new building for a mikveh.

The proposed site of the 1,000- to 1,200-square-foot mikveh building — within the area zoned for religious use that includes Beth Abraham Synagogue’s future home — is near Sugar Camp’s west gate at Schantz Ave.

This comes just weeks after the Dayton Ritualarium Society cleared land for its new 2,300-square-foot mikveh building in the parking lot of Beth Jacob Congregation on North Main St. in Harrison Township.

In accordance with halacha (Jewish law), a mikveh is a ritual bath where observant, married women cleanse themselves after their monthly cycle. The mikveh is also used for conversions to Judaism. Though not required by Jewish law, some men immerse themselves in the mikveh as a spiritual exercise.

The Ritualarium Society announced in January 2005 that it would move to Beth Jacob’s campus; this was based on a vote of its members in 2002 to relocate its mikveh from the current Dayton View site to a location in the suburbs north of Dayton. The society has entered into a 50-year lease with the congregation, with payment of $1.00 a year.

Chana Fox, a volunteer with the Ritualarium Society, said she expects to receive a building permit for the north mikveh from the Montgomery County Building Department in early January.

“The ground-breaking is weather dependent,” Fox said. “We want to have the permit in hand.” She hopes the mikveh will open in time for the High Holy Days.

Development of the Sugar Camp mikveh is dependent on the site plan recommendation of the Oakwood Planning Commission and site plan approval by the Oakwood City Council.

Earl Reeder Associates of Dayton is the architect for the Ritualarium Society’s $300,000-plus project. The Sugar Camp mikveh’s architect is Larry Norris of Cincinnati; its cost is estimated at $250,000. Both facilities’ plans include separate baths for men and women.

It is not known at this time who will have ritual oversight of the mikveh planned for Sugar Camp.

Rabbi David M. Sofian of Temple Israel said he has been involved with Rabbi Nochum Mangel of Chabad of Greater Dayton in the development of a Jewish community board to possibly oversee the mikveh at Sugar Camp.

“I support the idea of a mikveh at Sugar Camp,” Sofian said. “I’m all for a mikveh that is more central to the entire Jewish community.”

Sources close to the projects hope that one Jewish community board will ultimately oversee the two mikveh buildings.

“Hopefully it will be worked out in a way that is best for the community,” Sofian said.

“The Dayton Ritualiarium Society would be happy to start on a second mikveh project when we get finished with this one,” Fox said.

OIG’s request for religious use of 2nd Sugar Camp bldg. dropped from site plan
At the Oakwood Planning Commission’s public hearing on Dec. 13, Oakwood Assistant City Manager Jay A. Weiskircher said that as part of Oakwood Investment Group’s proposed site plan for Sugar Camp, Building B — a secondary building to be purchased by Beth Abraham Synagogue next to its future location — will be used as office space. At Oakwood City Council’s Sept. 18 meeting, OIG had agreed to defer its religious zoning request for Building B until the Dec. 13 meeting. Originally, Beth Abraham agreed to buy Building B to develop a Jewish community campus. Beth Abraham President Susie Katz said the congregation decided to drop the request “because there has been no interest on the part of the Jewish community.”